The list of companies that have ceased their activities in Quebec alongside the adoption last year of a law to strengthen requirements for the protection of the French language in the province is growing, a situation that organizations in the sector business associates with the “bureaucratic heaviness” resulting from this legislative change and which could have an effect on the Quebec economy.
A Montreal entrepreneur who wanted to obtain certification from the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), a Chicago-based educational organization specializing in supply chains, had an unpleasant surprise in recent weeks when he learned that the association had suspended its activities in Quebec.
Joined by The dutythe ASCM confirmed having made this decision due to the entry into force on 1er June 2022, of most of the provisions provided for in the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French, resulting from Bill 96. These legislative changes have the effect in particular of strengthening certain provisions of the Charter of the French language, initially adopted in 1977, concerning the obligation of companies to draft contracts, job offers, invoices and delivery documents in French, among others.
“At this time, we are unable to sell or ship products to anyone residing in Quebec. This applies to all products and services, including but not limited to training, learning systems, exams, memberships, and events hosted by ASCM,” the organization confirms. by email. The company also specifies that a partner company, Pearson Vue, has decided to stop offering exams to obtain its certifications in centers in Quebec in order to avoid having to translate the exams into French. Quebecers must therefore turn to an online option to take such a test or even travel to a center outside Quebec.
ASCM is not the only company to have decided in recent months to stop operating or delivering its products in the province. This is also the case for the American companies PetSmart and OtterBox, as well as the Canadian company London Drugs. All of them have in fact abandoned Quebec due to these legislative changes, according to reports produced in particular by the Globe and Mail, The Press and the Vancouver Sun.
A situation that does not surprise the president and CEO of the Conseil du patronat du Québec (CPQ), Karl Blackburn. “In a context of labor scarcity, we are seeing a scarcity of translators”, which has the effect of slowing down the ability of companies to adapt to this reform of the Charter of the French language, notes -he. This law thus affects the productivity of several companies, to the point where some of them may consider leaving Quebec, notes Mr. Blackburn.
“It is a requirement of the [Charte de la langue française] which can be burdensome for foreign companies,” recognizes lawyer Vincent de l’Étoile, specializing in civil and commercial litigation. “We cannot be against the maintenance and promotion of French. [Or,] the external actor, who does not operate in French [et qui voit le Québec comme une source d’activité marginale]has a cost-benefit calculation to make [au regard de cette loi]. » A calculation which can sometimes lead it to decide to end its operations in Quebec.
Economic repercussions
In this context, Karl Blackburn claims to fear the effects that the provisions of the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French, could have on the Quebec economy, in particular by making it more difficult to attract talent from abroad in different cutting-edge fields.
“We are not against the use of French, on the contrary, but we must not close the doors of Quebec to businesses or individuals simply because French is not their first language,” believes Ms. .Blackburn. According to him, the Quebec government would have done better to put in place more support measures to help businesses francize their services and their employees rather than imposing tight deadlines on them to achieve targets in this area.
“We must use Quebec’s borders as a springboard to shine in the world rather than as a rampart to protect ourselves against those who do not speak French,” asserts the CEO of the CPQ.
The challenges of francizing
The law will also generate significant additional costs for small and medium-sized businesses, foresees the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), which documented this situation in a brief. From 1er June 2025, this legislation will reduce the minimum threshold of employees required for a company to comply with a francization process supervised by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) from 50 to 25. This process involves the creation of a committee in each of the companies subject to this process, which can be long and costly for organizations with more modest profitability.
“There are companies for which it took ten years to obtain a certificate from the OQLF,” notes Iara Griffith, a lawyer at the Fasken firm, which specializes, among other things, in matters relating to compliance. of the Charter of the French Language. The lawyer also recalls that companies deemed non-compliant with the government’s francization process – which are the subject of a public list – are prohibited from obtaining contracts or subsidies from the government. There were 12 reported as of December 14.
“SMEs, in general, are very favorable to francization, but what they also wanted was to have access to services to facilitate the francization of businesses,” notes the director of provincial affairs of CFIB, Francis Bérubé.
The office of the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, did not want to comment on the situation reported by entrepreneurs.